The present disclosure relates generally to energy absorbers for use in a vehicle, for example, to reduce injuries (e.g., to occupant(s), pedestrian(s), etc.) and/or to reduce vehicle damage.
Increased importance has been placed on methods for minimizing the amount of injury suffered by a person in an accident as well as the amount of vehicle damage. Different regulatory committees assess automotive pedestrian and occupant impact performance globally. Depending on the overall performance, vehicles are assigned a cumulative safety rating. Each and every component of the vehicle needs to satisfy the specific impact criteria in order to ensure a good overall rating for the vehicle.
As a result, in the current competitive automotive market, one of the biggest challenges for a design engineer for pedestrian safety is to reduce the system cost while controlling the knee bending in a minimum packaging space with aggressive styling of vehicle front. At present, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are very aggressive regarding lower bumper system mass, as the system includes at least two components, an upper energy absorber and a lower leg support.
This generates the need to design an energy absorber that will deform and absorb impact energy to ensure a good vehicle safety rating, while meeting lower leg impact ratings and, desirably, with a decreased weight and lower amount of packaging space resulting in lower cost and increased design freedom. Therefore, the automotive industry is continually seeking economic solutions that meet global technical regulations for pedestrian safety.